Evolve becomes free to play starting today

After a troublesome reception and disappointment between the players, it looks like Turtle Rock is finally admitting and is going to fix everything up by releasing the game again as a Free to play title with constant updates.

The new business model for the asymmetrical shooter will be starting later today. The game will be released as a beta once more in order for developers to improve the experience from scratch with player’s feedback in mind after learning to do so the hard way around.

All those who purchased the game will be granted Founder status, keep all purchased add-on content and be honoured with “gifts, rewards, and special access” for as long as the shooter is in active development.

Turtle Rock is planning a rework of the hunter classes to rebalance the Evolve meta, which is currently really reliant on skilled and experienced trappers and medics. Maps and the user interface will be improved, progression and tutorials will be overhauled, and there’ll be more customisation options. The Evolve team wants to improve general performance, load times and the wait between firing the game up and getting into the action. Additionally, Turtle Rock is “focusing” on improving stability and smacking bugs down.

“When Evolve launched, the reception wasn’t what we expected. Sure, there were some good reviews. There were also bad reviews.,” official apology reads. “Yes, there was excitement. There was also disappointment – for players and for us. The DLC shitstorm hit full force and washed away people’s enthusiasm, dragging us further and further from that first magical pick-up-and-play experience.

The Steam page for the game is currently down, and is expected to be back up anew in few hours. Console version of the game will also be making the jump later on.